The owner of Salt Lake City-based Sensory Sweep Studio is going to spend some quality time in jail. David M. Rushton began serving a yearlong jail sentence on October 10 at the Salt Lake County Jail for failing to pay more than 100 employees. He was also fined $1.2 million. Rushton took a plea deal in the rare criminal case for nonpayment of wages brought by the Utah Attorney General's office - but he plans to appeal the verdict to a higher court...

"We had occasional paychecks that trickled in. Some people were favored more than others," said Adam Hunter, a 29-year-old game designer now working for another Utah studio. "Much like with an ex-girlfriend, I've just moved on. "I'm a realist. I understand I'm not going to see any money. I'm not as bitter as I was when this all started going down years ago."

Hunter, who quit working for the company in 2009, claims that it still owes him $12,000 for work he did. At one point the studio employed about 211 developers and staff, though hunter can't recall anyone ever getting paid...

Sensory Sweep Studio's bread and butter was creating games based on movie and other entertainment licensees for home consoles and hand-held systems. Hunter says that the company had a reputation for churning out titles quickly and got a percentage of royalties from moviemakers and others. Sensory Sweep Studio's game credits include Jackass: The Game, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Justice League Heroes and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.